ETYMOLOGYfrom French rébarbatif, -ive (14th c.), from se rebarber (vb. referring to two men squaring up face to face, beard to beard, aggressively) from barbe beardEXAMPLEFrom: Current OpinionA Magazine of Record and ReviewVolume IX, January-April, 1892Current LiteratureVanity Fair: Fads and Fashions